Asymmetric hanger for short and long trousers

ABSTRACT

A method and device for hanging long or short pants or any other similar articles of clothing that contains a waistband are disclosed. The device, an asymmetric hanger, hangs folded pants from the waist and is composed of a finger adapted to insert into the top of a pair of trousers engaging the inside of the waistband along with a clamp that clasps the waistband from the outside near the opposite end of the folded pants and that exerts a force away from the finger. The device can be adapted to hang pants from a simple clothes pole to a variety of novel designs that display pants and facilitate removal or hanging.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/215,382 filed May 6, 2009

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Ever since humans started clothing themselves, they have been confrontedwith the problem of storing such items when they were not in use.Undoubtedly, as clothing evolved and became more sophisticated, the needto store such items in a manner that preserved them so that they aresuitable for reuse would have become apparent. Thus the improvisation ofsuitable clothing hangers, undoubtedly, involves a long and evolvinghistory.

The problem of improvising suitable hangers for clothing that is worn onthe upper torso is for the most part quite straight forward. Devicesthat mimic shoulders are easily constructed and have been usedthroughout history to hang shirts, jackets, smocks or any other itemsthat primarily are worn by having them rest upon the shoulders of thewearer.

Hangers for trousers or pants, on the other hand, present some uniqueproblems. This is so because pants by the nature of their function(individually covering legs as well as the lower portion of the trunk)require a complex structure. Essentially, the components of pants aretwo approximately cylindrical tubes that accommodate the covering oflegs. These tubes are made to hang from the underside and on oppositesides of a larger open, approximately cylindrical tube that is wornaround the lower part of the body from the waist down to the crotch.Accordingly, pants hangers have had to deal with considerations thatresult from these complex structural elements.

To date most pants hangers take advantage of what is referred to here asthe well known pressed alignment of pants to store them in anessentially wrinkle-free state. As known to those skilled in the art andeven those less skilled, this pressed alignment is achieved by arrangingfirst one leg, and then the second, such that the seams (traditionallyon the inside and outside of each leg) for each leg lie atop each otherin preparation for ironing or hanging. Pressing pants so arrangedresults in the formation of a crease in the front and back of the leg,approximately midway between the inner and outer seams. To complete thepressing process the crease on the front of each pant leg is extended tojust below the waistband, typically to a point where the belt loopsclosest to the fly are placed or to a pleat which often occurs there.When pressed properly, pants can be stored in a wrinkle free state byfolding them such that the four seams of the pants legs are atop eachother, and the front and rear creases are aligned. Pants so folded canbe laid flat for wrinkle-free storage, hung from the bottom of thealigned legs or they can hang over a bar which might be coated with somematerial that keeps them from slipping off, or they can be placed over abar such that the weight of the legs on one side of the bar is aboutequal to the weight of the upper part of pants—the body of the pants.Alternatively, they can be hung from the waist by using a simple hangerwith two clasps, where one clasp grasps the pants at the waist near thefly side of the pants, the other grasping the rear section of the pants.It is common to see pants hung in this manner that are offered for sale.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,261 to Tsai et al discloses a pants hanger that usesspring loaded gripping arms that fit over the bottom ends of pants legsin the pressed alignment wherein the gripping arms not only grasp thepant legs, they can accommodate the extra thickness of material createdby the overlaying of four seams. Accordingly, the pants are hung upsidedown and remain in a wrinkle-free state. Tsai et al describe severalsimilar US patents that also hang pants in the upside downconfiguration. Those patents include U.S. Pat. No. 707,192 to Aiken,U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,325 to Schroeder, U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,407 toBogaaczyk, U.S. Pat. No. 853,527 to Tye, U.S. Pat. No. 2,127,333 to Hallet al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,066 to Hebberd.

There are also a number of patents that disclose pants hangers or racksthat hang pants in their pressed alignment with the legs over some kindof bar arrangement. They include U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,385 to Lessard,U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,265 to Morgan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,096 to Kohlhepp,and US Pat. No. Des. 244,244 to Burke.

There are several issues the previous art has not addressed in thehanging of pants, particularly short pants, sometimes called walkingshorts. One problem is that the user must first arrange the pants in thepressed alignment, so defined above. Next the aligned pants must beaffixed to the hanger. Hangers that are hand held require some level ofdexterity in order to affix them to aligned pants. Consequently, onespends considerable time in folding, affixing and finally adjusting soas to obtain wrinkle-free hanging. The hangers of the type disclosed andcited by Tsai et al which are mounted on a vertical surface have similarissues but are judged superior because of their mountings. However, theyare arrayed in such a way that the hanging or removal of a single pairof pants presents some level of difficulty.

One objective of this invention is to create a system for hanging pants(short or long) that starts with folding them in a very simple mannersuitable for hanging. Another, objective is to provide hanging devisesthat facilitate affixing pants to them. The hanging device accomplishesthis by taking advantage of a fundamental aspect of pants construction.A third objective is to arrange a set of mounted hanging devises in anarray such that pants are displayed in a manner that allows immediatevisual inventory without touching or moving any part of the system. Thisarrangement is suitable where wall mounting of such an array isfeasible, or where there is sufficient room for a floor stand. A fourthobjective is to provide a telescoping hanger device that facilitates thehanging, viewing or removal of pants. This arrangement can be used in atypical closet/cabinet, or for that matter any open space, eliminatingthe need for the traditional transverse clothes holding rod, or pole.The telescoping concept is indeed applicable and adaptable to an entirespectrum of hanging devices that normally are hung from a closet pole orclothes rod.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is based on a novel asymmetric hanging device forlong or short pants that takes advantage of fundamental elements of theconstruction of pants. The asymmetric device in one embodiment cansimply be hung on a traditional transverse closet pole to hang anindividual pair of pants. Alternatively several of these devices can bearrayed in some convenient manner and be mounted to a vertical surfacesuch as inside a closet or on a dressing room wall, or for that matterin any appropriate vertical surface. In another embodiment a unit thatcan accommodate many such devices can be constructed on an appropriatestand so that viewing of all pants hung thereon is facilitated. Such aunit would be of significant benefit in a commercial setting where pantsare being offered for sale or in a domestic setting where space is notlimited.

Further, the simplicity in using asymmetric hanger devices affords easyremoval of items as well as simple re-hanging. The use of this simpleprinciple, disclosed herein, in such devices confers significantadvantages to the user as well as to retail employees who spendconsiderable time re-hanging sale items.

In a third embodiment single pairs of pants can be hung on an asymmetrichanging device that telescopes horizontally towards the user and awayfrom adjacent hanging objects. This concept like the array to bedescribed below facilitates inspection, hanging and removal and affordseconomy of space. The telescoping concept is readily adapted to theentire spectrum of hanging devices that normally are hung on thetraditional transverse closest pole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of an asymmetric pants hanger suitable for hangingon a standard closet clothes pole.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an asymmetric pants hanger incorporated into atelescopic device that can be wall mounted.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a wall mounted array of asymmetric pantshangers—six in number—arranged so that pants can be hung in steps, oneabove another, and staggered laterally in a stepwise manner.

FIG. 4 is a left side view of the array of asymmetric pants hangers—sixin number—depicted in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

If a traditionally pressed pair of long or short pants is examined byholding the pants from the waist with the fly at the center and facingthe observer, it will be noted that the front creases of the pants willextend up to the front belt loops that are on either side of the fly.This will generally be the case for pants with a flat front (no pleats)or with pants that have front pleats. To fold pants so pressed such thatthe leg creases align (front to front, back to back), it is typical tounzip the fly, grasp the front belt loops so mentioned and bring themtogether such that the fly section of the pants folds inwards. Dependingon the pants and in order to maintain front crease alignment, the frontbelt loops either face each other in the folded position or they definethe leading edge where the fly section of the pants folds inward. Hence,looking at pants so folded from the side, in the first case the beltloops are not visible, whereas in the second case the belt loops arejust at the edge of the fold.

In those instances where the pleats associated with the leg creases donot align with the belt loops nearest the fly, for this invention pleatalignment generally dominates.

When so folded the front creases begin just below the waistband at thefront of the body of the pants and continue down the front of the pantlegs. Secondly, the waistband of the pants is folded on itself at itsrear most point and, thirdly, the front of the pants body thatencompasses the fly as already noted must fold inward. Anyoneknowledgeable about clothing manufacture or sales will be familiar withthis method of folding pants. This means of folding short or long pantsis commonly used when pants that are offered for sale are laid in apile, or in many cases for pants offered for sale that are hung waistside up.

Pants folded as described above can be hung upside down from a varietyof hangers such as those described herein in the background section.Similarly, hanging pants so folded in an upright position, i.e. from thewaist can be accomplished with a simple hanger having two spring loadedclasps, one to grasp the top of the pants near front belt loops of thepants and a second to grasp a region near the rear fold in thewaistband. Hanging pants in this fashion requires some dexterity and itis not always easy to hang pants correctly without severalclasping/unclasping adjustments.

There is, however, a simpler solution to hanging pants in thisright-side-up fashion that this invention discloses that affords anumber of significant advantages to the user. Rather than having to dealwith two spring loaded clasps which is one typical approach, it is notedthat in the construction of pants, the waistband (typically 1.5 to 2.0″thick) not only is of rather robust construction, it has a smallerdiameter than the body of the pants immediately below it. This is aconsequence of the need to accommodate the normal anatomy, i.e. thebuttocks. For pants of extremely large waist, the diameter just belowthe waistband often approximates that of the waistband. None-the-less,because of the difference in construction of the waistband and the bodyof the pants, the region below the waistband can more readily bedeformed by outward pressure than the waistband itself. Consequently,the invention disclosed below functions even in those cases.

Given the robust construction of waistbands, as well as the change indiameter (or in pants construction) immediately below the waistband, anovel means for hanging pants upright (waist at top) is to affix therear section of pants, so folded as described above, onto a hangingdevice using an appropriately designed finger that inserts into the foldof the waistband at the rear of the pants. If the finger that retainsthe rear side of the folded pants is coupled with a clasp that graspsthe folded pants at the waistband on the fly side of the folded pants,and if the clasp exerts some outward pressure away from the finger bybeing spring loaded, or by some other means of exerting force, pants canreadily be held in place. A device that incorporates these principlesfor hanging pants is herein disclosed and hereafter referred to as anasymmetric hanger.

For clarity in describing how the asymmetric hanger is used and tobetter understand the drawings incorporated herein, the convention thatis used is that pants are hung from these devices in their uprightposition, i.e. waist at top, with the fly side on the right and the rearof the pants on the left. Further, they are folded in the traditionalfashion as described above.

FIG. 1 depicts the key elements of the asymmetric long or short pantshanging device disclosed herein. The Figure depicts a version that isintended for hanging on a traditional transverse closet pole. Thisdevice is quite simple being composed of a few basic elements: (1) asupport post “a” that is attached to a hook shaped element “b”, thelatter being appropriately sized to fit over a traditional transversecloset pole or any appropriate bar; (2) a clasp “c” that rides on thesupport post “a” and upon which a force to the right is exerted by aspring “e” with “d” being a stop against which the spring “e” rests, and(3) element “f”—one version of a grasping finger—which is the downwardprojection on the left side of the hanger that is attached to supportpost “a”. This element which is described in more detail below isdesigned to take advantage of the waistband/pants characteristicsalready mentioned, and is used to hold in place (hang) the rear sectionof pants folded in the traditional manner, as described above, whenpants are hung upright, i.e. from the waistband.

Alternatively, rather than a spring loaded clasp that exerts force awayfrom the finger, a clasp that rides on support post “a” that is kept inplace when it is released can be employed. Such clasps are well known inthe art. Thus, the user would insert the grasping finger into the foldedwaistband at the rear of pants, clasp the folded pants at the waistband,on the fly side or front side of the pants, and exert sufficient tensionon the folded pants to keep them in place by moving the clasp away fromthe finger. The grasping character of the clasp keeps its position fixedand, hence, sufficient tension is maintained on the folded pants to keepthem hung.

One alternative for grasping pants on the fly side would be to eliminatealtogether the spring loaded clasp “c” depicted in FIG. 1, and replaceit with a grasping device affixed to support rod “a” that the front sideof a pair of pants can be drawn into. One very simple grasping devicemight resemble a clothes pin which is affixed below rod “a” andpositioned horizontally with the opening end of the clothes pin facingthe grasping finger, element “f” of FIG. 1. In that case, the rear ofpants would be placed over the gripping finger and the front pulled intothe clothes pin like grasping device in a manner to exert sufficienttension to keep the pants hung. A variety of clothes pin like devicesfor grasping the front of pants and incorporating a quick release couldeasily be designed.

As is evident the horizontal support post “a” needs to be long enough toaccommodate the width of pants folded in the traditional manner that areto be hung top down employing the finger at the rear of the folded pantsand the clasp near the front.

Referring now to the left side of the asymmetric hanger device of FIG. 1and keeping in mind the convention that pants are hung from the waistwith rear and fly sides to the left and right, respectively, the element“f” which in one embodiment can be fashioned of the same material assupport post “a”, represents one version of a finger that is designed tohold the rear section of the pants waistband in place. From FIG. 1, itcan be seen that “f” is composed of a straight section of the gaspingfinger, denoted as “g”, and a protrusion “h”. Ideally the straightsection “g” needs to be 1.5 to 2.0 inches in length as this is thesection of the grasping finger against which the waistband rests.Element “h” is a protrusion that exerts pressure away from the body ofthe pants just below the waistband, i.e. into the buttocks area of thepants. Thus “h” plays a role in keeping the pants from falling off thefinger when the clamp is functioning to maintain the waistband undertension pressure to the right side is exerted.

An alternative to the finger structure described here is a finger thatuses just friction with no protruding element, such as element “h” ofFIG. 1, to keep the waistband in place when appropriate tension isexerted on the folded pants. Still another alternative for finger designis to place a deformable sheath, such as foam rubber tubing, over thefinger shown in FIG. 1. By incorporating a deformable material aroundthe finger, it has been observed that less pressure needs to be exertedon the waistband in order to keep pants in place.

Hanging pants using the asymmetric hanger is a simple matter. Pants arefolded in the traditional manner as described above. The pants are nextgrasped by clasp “c” at the waistband near the front of the pants andthe clasp moved to the left by compressing the spring sufficiently toallow the rearmost section of the folded waistband to be fitted over thefinger. An alternative procedure that requires less dexterity is to holda pair of appropriately folded pants by the waistband near the fly sideof the pants in one hand, grasp the asymmetric hanger by the clasp withthe other hand, insert the finger of the asymmetric hanger into the rearfold of the pants with enough pressure to compress the spring andfinally clasp the fly side of the waistband.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Although the asymmetric hanging device depicted in FIG. 1 affordsadvantages of easy hanging and removal to the user in situations where atransverse clothes pole is the only alternative, there are advantages toincorporating such devices on stands of various types that hold thehanger fixed in space or fixed but movable in a given manner thatfacilitates use thereof. By doing that less dexterity is required by theuser as there is no need to hold the hanger while hanging or removingpants so hung as the hanging device is affixed.

FIG. 2 depicts one such embodiment of an asymmetric hanger, viz. atelescopic arrangement for an individual hanger that can be affixed insome convenient space. As is evident by comparison with FIG. 1, the hookstructure “b” of FIG. 1 is replaced by an extended support post “a” thatbends back on itself and is received by a tube “i” of appropriatedimensions to create what is typically referred as a telescope section.Tube “i” can be rigidly affixed to some support structure in a varietyof ways such as mounting bracket “m” to a wall “w” of FIG. 2. Thus theasymmetric hanger can be moved into the support tube or telescopedoutwards towards the user. The telescoping arrangement can be keyed suchthat the inserted asymmetric hanger does not swing with respect to thefixed tubular support “i”. As will be evident to all skilled in the art,the number of telescoping sections can be varied depending on thecompactness and length of extension that is desired for any particulararrangement. It would be evident that individual telescoping hangerscould be arranged in an array such that each can telescope away fromnear neighbors.

There are significant benefits of an array of individual telescopingasymmetric hangers. First, because one hanger can be extended away fromits near neighbors, the user has ready access to a hanger that is heldin a position that facilitates hanging. Further, the individualtelescoping nature of the hangers so described also facilitatesinspection of any hanging article. Additional inspection can be obtainedby mounting the telescoping hangers in a stair step fashion, rather thanin a horizontal plane. Both disclosures are in contrast to wardrobesmounted on telescoping rods where the entire wardrobe telescopes.(Emanual, U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,124) or where an entire array telescopes.

There are many other ways of creating a telescoping asymmetric hangerthat will be obvious to those skilled in the art. One such arrangementcan be achieved merely by drilling horizontal holes of the diameter ofrod “a” into some fixed member such as a transverse bar. By insertingthe sliding portion of the asymmetric hanger device depicted in FIG. 2into these holes, the hanger can slide inwards or outwards to the user.Clearly the transverse structure must be of sufficient depth such thatthe length of drilled holes is adequate to make the hanger telescope inthe plane of the drilled holes. If greater telescope extension isdesired, it would be a simple matter to make the drill holes justdescribed sufficient to accommodate the diameter of tube “i” in FIG. 2.Thus tube “i” depicted in FIG. 2 along with appropriate stops woulditself telescope into the drilled holes.

The concept of individual telescoping supports for any kind of hangerhas general utility. It can be adapted to the entire spectrum of hangersthat are normally used with a transverse clothes rod. The obviousadvantages of this kind of arrangement in addition to the facilitationthat occurs by fixing the hanger in its telescoped position is thatclothing can be hung, inspected or removed without having to reach inand remove the hanger from a rod, and without the item of interest beingencumbered by near neighbor hanging items. Arrangements that telescopearrays of hanging devices do not have this advantage.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a novel pants hanger array that employs theessentials (spring loaded clasp, support post and grasping finger) ofthe asymmetric pants hanging device so described. This array consists ofhorizontally spaced vertical posts, “j”, (shown here as six in number)that incrementally increase in height and that are mounted on a basemember, “k”, such that they can swing towards the viewer. The keyelements of the asymmetric hanger (finger, clasp and spring) are affixedto elongated supports “a” that are attached to the correspondingvertical support rods. If so desired, the base member “k”, can bemounted horizontally on a supporting wall with appropriate hardware oraffixed to an appropriate pedestal or conventional clothes tree.

FIG. 4 is a left side view of the novel hanger array of the invention.As in FIG. 3, “j” and “k” represent the vertical posts and the basemember, respectively. The item labeled “w” represents a wall on which“k” can be mounted. For clarity the finger projections which would benearest the viewer are omitted from each elongated support “a”. FromFIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that the uppermost hanger is closest tothe wall, and that individual hangers step away from the wall inincreasing increments moving from top to bottom. In this way individualpairs of pants that are hung on such an array, when in the closedposition of the array, lie in parallel planes. The spacing betweenparallel planes should be adequate to allow ventilation between adjacentpairs of hanging pants. This can be accomplished by making the incrementnear neighbor hangers move away from the wall about 0.5 inches. Thus astaggered array that accommodates six pairs of hanging pants can beconstructed such that, including the space required for the base member,it protrudes no more than 3.5 to 4.0 inches from the support wall.

The base member can be constructed out of a variety of materials—metals,woods, composite materials, etc. Besides supporting the hanger array,the base member in this embodiment serves as a mount for the individualvertical posts whereby the latter can be pivotally inserted into thebase member and swivel away from the wall or back towards the wall. If,for example the vertical posts are constructed by appropriately bending3/16 or ¼ inch steel, the array can be constructed such that thevertical posts can be made to swivel on the base member simply byinserting them into 3/16 or ¼ inch holes, respectively, drilled into thebase member.

In addition to the systematic decrease in the height of the verticalposts depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the concurrent systematicprojection away from the wall of each hanger, it is noted that thesupport posts are inserted into the base member at evenly spaced apartintervals. By disposing vertical posts on the base member at intervalsof 0.5-6 inches, with 2.5 being preferred, and if the heights of thevertical posts are selected such that asymmetric hanger devices arespaced 0.5-6.0 inches above each other, with 2.5 inch spacing beingpreferred, it will be evident that a 3 dimensional array is createdwherefrom each pair of trousers can immediately be distinguished. Thisobtains because this type of spacing creates an array where the frontsection (a 2.5 inch portion of the fly side of the right side of eachpair of pants for 2.5 inch horizontally spaced support posts) and theentire waistband (for 2.5 inch vertical steps) of each pair of pants isreadily viewed. This facilitates selection as well as removal andrehanging. Additionally, by spring loading the support posts to theirmost retracted position, i.e. into the wall, it will be evident that atidy arrangement is maintained.

A simple alternative to spring loading the support posts to their mostretracted position is to note that their design has a built-in naturalmoment. Thus if any of the vertical posts is inserted into a drilledhole that is not precisely vertical, the post will by simple physicsswing towards the position which places the tip of the arm closest tothe ground. Thus by drilling aperture in the base member (item b ofFIGS. 3 and 4) with an appropriate slight cant, the vertical posts cannaturally be made to lean back to the wall in their retracted position,and lean oppositely) (180°) in their extended position.

Clearly an array that uses the principles of FIGS. 3 and 4 can beconstructed whereby a larger portion of the visible part of each shortor long pant is visible, or a larger portion of each waistband isviewable. That can readily be accomplished by increasing the horizontalspacing between vertical posts as well as the differences in theirheight. As would be evident to those skilled in the art from the hangerarrangement shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the preferred embodiments are thosethat minimize wall space utilized for the array as well as projectionoff of the wall.

In addition to incorporating the asymmetric hanger device intotraditional closet pole hangers, telescoping or wall mounted pantshanging arrays; there are a variety of other arrangements that can bemade using the disclosure of the asymmetric hanger provided herein. Sucharrangements would be very suitable in settings where pants are offeredfor sale or where sufficient room is available in a domestic setting.Pedestals that display pants like spokes on a wheel can readily beenvisioned. Additionally, tiered pedestals can be constructed for thispurpose.

Another possible arrangement is an array that is not staggered laterallysuch as the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4. Instead asymmetric hangers canbe arranged one directly above the other but stepping out from the wall(if wall mounted), similar to the hangers in FIG. 4, with the lowestasymmetric hanger having the most outward projection. This kind ofvertical array could easily be mounted from a single vertical supportsuch as a pole on which the ascending asymmetric hangers swivel. Such anarrangement would be quite suitable for displaying pants that aremanufactured in specific waist and inseam sizes. For such pants avertical array could easily be constructed which could accommodate everyinseam length for some particular waist size. By spacing the asymmetrichangers in vertical planes spaced 0.5 inch from each other (as alsodescribed above), to accommodate only 10 inseam lengths, a verticalarray that projects less than 6 inches from a wall could be constructed.By appropriate design, an economy of space that does not exist for mostpants displays can be accomplished with the added benefit that thecustomer does not have to deal with sifting through piles of pants. Inaddition to the already mentioned display advantages of such sale items,the simplicity of use of asymmetric hanging devices affords considerabletime savings to the customer and for the sales workers who needs torepeatedly hang and re-hang sales items.

In all of the embodiments disclosed herein, the asymmetric hangerconcept provides significant advantage to the user over conventionalclasping hangers. Essentially half of the manipulations required to hanga garment are eliminated. With the exception of the disclosure of theasymmetric hanger fashioned for use with a closet pole, thesedisclosures also provide a significant advantage by having hangerelements fixed to some holder. This affords the user the advantage ofnot having to deal with holding the hanger device while also hangingclothes. This simple concept in concert with advantages the asymmetrichanger assembly provides make inspection, removal and hanging of pantsconsiderably easier. It should also be noted that this invention hasapplication to a variety of garments used by women such as skirts whichalso have common construction elements.

While there have been shown and described, and pointed out, fundamentalnovel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodimentsherein, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutionsand changes in the form and details of the disclosed invention may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit ofthe invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only asindicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto. It is to beunderstood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, butthat they are merely conceptual in nature.

1. A hanger for trousers having a waistband extending along the top edgeof the trousers, said hanger comprising: a. a rigid elongated, generallyhorizontal support, adapted to hang from a clothes rod, a door, a wall,a pedestal, or a piece of furniture, said support having a first end anda second end; b. a finger depending generally vertically from saidsupport adjacent one end thereof, said finger adapted to be insertedinto the top of a trouser and to engage the inside of said waistband;and c. a clamp having a pair of jaws biased toward one another andadapted to clamp the outside of said waistband, said jaws dependingvertically from said support remotely from said finger.
 2. A hangeraccording to claim 1, wherein said clamp is adjustable on said elongatedsupport to apply tension to the waistband.
 3. A hanger according toclaim 1, wherein the distal part of said finger has a crook, said crookprotruding away from said clamp and adapted to engage the trouser belowthe waistband.
 4. A hanger according to claim 1, further comprising ahanging element, wherein said hanging element is attached to saidelongated support.
 5. A hanger according to claim 4, wherein saidhanging element is affixed to said elongated support intermediate saidfirst and second ends and configured for hanging on a horizontal clothesrod.
 6. A hanger according to claim 4, wherein said hanging element isdoor- or wall-mounted.
 7. A hanger according to claim 6, wherein saiddoor- or wall-mounted hanging element is a tubular member that receivessaid elongated support, said elongated support being adjustable betweena retracted and extended position within said tubular member.
 8. Adevice for hanging a pair of pants comprising: (a) a means for claspingthe front of said pants, and (b) a means for exerting pressure to therear of said pants at the waistband; wherein said pants are held intension while maintained in a folded arrangement.
 9. A hanger assemblycomprising a multiplicity of hangers according to claim 1, said hangersbeing mounted on a series of vertical post disposed in a base member inspaced apart relationship to each other, thereby forming an array ofsaid hangers.
 10. The hanger assembly of claim 9, wherein said verticalposts are of varying height.
 11. The hanger assembly of claim 9, whereinsaid vertical posts are rotatable in said base member.
 12. A method ofhanging a folded article of clothing comprising a waistband using ahanger: engaging said waistband with a first portion of said hanger onthe interior thereof at a first folded location of said article; placingsaid waistband under at least minimal tension by exerting a force awayfrom said first folded location and said first portion of the hanger;clasping said article with a second portion of the hanger at a secondfolded location opposite said first folded location while said waistbandis under the at least minimal tension; and suspending said hanger andsaid article of clothing from a support surface by a third portion ofsaid hanger.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein said waistband ismaintained under at least minimal tension while suspending said hangerand said article of clothing.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein saidwaistband is maintained substantially horizontally while suspending saidhanger and said article of clothing.